The Fast Break feat. Isaac White

On first basketball memories…

I grew up in Adelaide and actually played AFL and basketball until my mid teens. I'm a massive Crows supporter and hate Port like most Crows fans, but footy was all my family cared about so I didn't start pursuing basketball seriously until about 15. Through my basketball club - The Sturt Sabres - we got to travel a fair bit to Melbourne and Sydney. That might have been what sold it for me, it's a little more of a global game.

The sport [basketball] wasn't all that big until I was about to leave Adelaide a few years ago, which is a similar narrative to the rest of the country. I've always liked to go against the grain, so when everyone was playing footy it was almost too easy to commit to that sport. 

On basketball influences...

I was certainly watching Aussie NBA guys. Someone like Patty Mills is the easiest to access on film. He was always the star when the Olympics were on TV. Jeremy Lin was another guy who was a common YouTube search for me, as well as Fred Van Fleet of late. He's just over 6 foot but one of the best point guards in the league. I've always liked Delly [Matthew Dellavedova] as well. He’s a smaller guy so I've learned a bunch of tips and tricks from him. We both have an affiliation with 'HomeCourt' ( a virtual basketball training app). Delly is an investor in the business and I help them with their prototypes. 

On online training platform 'Homecourt'…

It's so cool and easy. Just set up a camera, it films you while you shoot or dribble and it records stats on makes and takes. the speed at which you do it, the angles at which you shoot it, the pace of your dribble and stuff like that. It's also the official training partner of the NBA. They were actually based in Palo Alto, California and would come to Stanford as we were the closest major university.

They would come to practice and get us using their technology. I was always their little lab rat I guess. They kept asking me to shoot and then asking me for feedback.

On Stanford University basketball…

I came in as a freshman and had to try out for the team. Most places you get recruited, you commit and it's a done deal, but Stanford actually flew me out for a try out. I wasn't a highly touted recruit but I performed well and got an offer, but I had to earn everything I got. As a freshman the senior in my position got hurt so I ended up starting and playing heaps of minutes. It was a massive positive and I got all the experience I could ask for. In my second year we brought in a couple of four and five star recruits and I found it a little more challenging to hit the floor. I was putting a lot of time and effort into it, but wasn't seeing the court. In my third year I was either playing 25 minutes or five minutes, so there were ups and downs which made it hard to find consistency,

On the college system…

I was damn near blind when I got to college. You kind of figure it'll all work out but I'd encourage dudes to do a whole lot of research about the program they're going into before they go.

You go to the other side of the world to pursue a basketball dream and if that's not going well, life can be pretty tough. Finding the right fit is really important.

I also came out of it with a sociology degree which I'd like to take it into business or sports management one day.

On landing in the NBL with the Hawks…

It all happened pretty fast. When the covid situation happened in March I flew back to Adelaide. I'd finished my degree at Stanford and went into this transfer portal with the likely scenario being I'd spend my senior year of college at a different school. I'd committed to California Baptist University but a week before I was due to fly out from Adelaide to the US I decided to have some conversations here to see if I could slide onto an NBL roster. I got a call from Goorj [Brian Goorjian] and thought it was the best opportunity for me, so I cancelled my plans and flew straight to Wollongong.

On what fans can expect from him this season…

You can expect an energetic and confident player who will shoot the ball a tonne where he can. A guy who will take his opportunities and waste no minutes. I know that my opportunity wont be forty minutes a game, so when I'm on the floor I'll play as hard as I can til I'm taken out. I'll bring passion, energy and hopefully a lot of straight shooting.

Peoplecare is the proud player partner of Isaac White for the 2020/21 NBL season. 

Hawks Media